Bret Schnitker, Emily Lane, Sharon Graubard
May 6, 2025
Sharon Graubard 00:09
I mean, I do think there's more movement toward personal expression and less paying attention, in a way, to trends and doing your own thing and being yourself and buying like a special piece.
Emily Lane 00:35
Welcome to Clothing Coulture, a fashion industry podcast at the intersection of technology and innovation. I'm Emily Lane and
Bret Schnitker 00:42
I'm Bret Schnitker. We speak with experts and disruptors who are moving the industry forward and discuss solutions to real industry challenges.
Emily Lane 00:51
Clothing. Coulture is produced by Stars Design Group, a global design and production house with more than 30 years of experience.
Emily Lane 01:00
Welcome back to another episode of Clothing Coulture. We are thrilled, delighted beyond measure, to welcome back our good friend, Sharon Graubard. You might remember her from our second season. We are going to get a reboot of what's happening in the trend forecasting world of today. Sharon is visiting from New York City. She is the founder and creative director of SG Files, and what we consider to be, who we consider to be the Oracle of our industry. And good friend, welcome back, Sharon.
Sharon Graubard 01:33
I'm so happy to be here.
Bret Schnitker 01:34
Oh, nice, snowy day
Sharon Graubard 01:37
and pretty cold,
Bret Schnitker 01:38
yeah, for sure,
Emily Lane 01:40
yeah. So you've escaped one cold, snowy city and to visit another. So well, it's wonderful to actually visit with you in our home office in St Louis.
Sharon Graubard 01:51
Wonderful to be in your home office. It's just spectacular if people haven't been here. Very impressive. Yeah.
Emily Lane 01:59
Well, thank you. So to start this conversation, we are going to take a look at what's happening in our industry, and through the fresh lens of this year 2025 let's start a little more simply, though, and just just address a couple core questions with regards to fashion, what it means to the world, a lot of people, unless you're in our industry, look at fashion as superficial. What would you say to those people?
Sharon Graubard 02:27
I don't like that. I think it's very deep. I think we're addressing our unconscious. We're communicating with others. Sometimes we're being very generous and sharing ourselves with others. Sometimes we're being very private. All of that is said through clothes. It's the the language that we all speak and share. So I think it's very deep.
Emily Lane 02:58
Yeah, I agree. I think even those who don't think they're making a decision about their clothes, and really, that's fashion. What fashion is, it's it's clothes, right? Well, yeah,
Sharon Graubard 03:10
you know, maybe we should stop saying fashion and just say clothes. I know Miuccia Prada said I don't like fashion. I love clothes. And the word fashion, maybewe need a new word. Bret was saying apparel.
Bret Schnitker 03:27
Yeah, apparel clothing. It's just seems to be more inclusive. I think once you paint things fashion wise in our industry, we kind of understand the differences. But you know, when you, when you, when you talk to the population in general about fashion, they have an immediate vision that comes into their mind. And we're in the business of clothing. And everyone, most everyone, I guess, except for Bianca Censori, really wears clothing on a daily basis.
Emily Lane 03:57
That's true. Yeah, yeah. I like what you said about we're dressing our subconscious. Because even those who are making a decision to not make a decision, we're going to wear the same black turtleneck every day. For example, you are making a decision about how to present yourself so that you can accommodate a certain feeling or a certain freedom of mind.
Sharon Graubard 04:19
Well, exactly Steve Jobs who wore that black turtleneck? And I think it was Izzy Miyake. He decided on a uniform so that he could think about other things, so that his brain could be free. So that's a good way of thinking about it, too. I certainly have a uniform. I think a lot of I mean, when I was backing to come here, I thought, Oh, my God, you know, four black sweaters and three Comme Des Garcons bottoms
Emily Lane 04:48
that's and your red lipsticks and my
Sharon Graubard 04:50
red lipstick and one pair of boots. Yeah,
Emily Lane 04:54
great empowerment comes through our clothes too.
Sharon Graubard 04:58
And I mean, I. Follow this Instagram. Robbie Quinn. Robbie Quinn NYC, he wrote a book called Street Unicorns, and it's and he his Instagram. He's, he's wonderful photographer, and he recently had a homeless guy in a wheelchair, homeless in a wheelchair with a jaunty hat and a fabulous suit and a tie, and that is that person's way of how is even a dandy? How does someone like that manage to be a dandy? But there it is, and clothes make you feel seen. I mean, we all know that senior what's the one advanced, advanced style. Do you guys know that?
Emily Lane 05:46
I don't know.
Sharon Graubard 05:47
Oh, it's fantastic. It's all these, you know, fabulously gorgeous olders, elders and a lot of you know, when you read the interviews people, it's a way of being visible,
Bret Schnitker 06:00
and especially for the homeless today, that's that massive invisible population that people just, yeah, you know, there's a lot of dialog about not you know, them feeling like they're just ghosts in society because people look the other way. And what an interesting statement where this one individual is like, look, you're gonna see me, I'm going to be here
Sharon Graubard 06:22
Yeah, and I'm gonna show up. That's right. Look great. And, yeah, you know, you see it with the disabled community and, and just, how about going in for a new job, and you put that jacket on, or whatever it is, and it's like Superman suit. You know, I think that's a great metaphor, Superman rips off the suit to be Superman, yeah, and then Clark Kent has another persona, like, if you're in a play, the minute you put on the costume,
Emily Lane 06:52
you're that person.
Sharon Graubard 06:53
You're that person.
Bret Schnitker 06:54
And for years, I mean, you know, I I like to say, you know, years ago, there was this coat of arms, there's this, you know, for years, clothing has symbolized and galvanized your your view of your position in in our society, right? So, yeah,
Sharon Graubard 07:09
well, that, you know, we talked a little bit about the word home spun, which I recently was doing some research on, just for myself. And it came from the spinning. The women were spinning during the the Fed. Would you call that the federal period? The, you know, yeah, the revolution. They were rejecting the silks and velvets and laces, specifically from England, because they wanted to create a democratic society, and the Made in America movement started then George Washington wore an American made home spun, meaning spun at home suit to his inauguration. That's wild. That is wild, yeah. So when we say home spun, and that was also a way for women to be involved in politics. I was also reading during the French Revolution, the women were not supposed to speak openly about politics, but they wore a black cockade, a black ribbon if they were on one side and the other side were particular kind of hat, wow. So talk about communication.
Emily Lane 07:10
You see that through history, just various times of of rebellion showing up in in apparel, the suffragettes wearing white, yes, the French Revolution of red ribbon. So we see acts of rebellion through through clothing. Yes, what are you seeing today with regards to little acts of rebellion?
Sharon Graubard 08:27
Well in my neighborhood in New York, which is the East Village, a lot of guys are wearing skirts, and they're normal looking guys getting on the subway in the morning wearing, you know, there are guys who are flamboyant and wearing, you know, a more femme presentation, but there are guys who are really kind of business men looking but they've got a skirt on. Terry
Bret Schnitker 09:23
Terry Singh is going to be happy to here that.
Sharon Graubard 09:25
Yeah, I was talking to Terry Singh about, yes, exactly. Terry Singh is like a quiet revolutionary Yeah, yeah. Also the, you know that really interesting gender neutral clothing, like, for instance, crop tops, crop T shirts, which you see on both boys and girls, men and women, and also kind of an agender look, you know, baggy pants or baggy shorts. Crop. T shirt, there's like, a certain look that is. It's not radical, it's, it's, in a way, it's basic pieces, but it's expressing a kind of neutrality that is very interesting and definitely rebellious. revellious against Yes. I mean, I was so shocked many years ago, and I was doing work with Disney, and I could not believe have gendered the children's wear was all the all the girls stuff was like little princesses and the boys had to be pirates. I mean, can't you be a girl pirate? So that kind of genderful feeling is a quiet revolution.
Emily Lane 10:52
There is a, I think, a pretty dynamic shift that's happening in our country where there's, you've got these kind of two different conversations going. You've got people who are embracing gender full, gender blurring, freedom in that way. But then there's this other side that's pushing for more distinct delineation between male and female. Do you think that our fashion is going to see influence from from this growing conversation?
Sharon Graubard 11:26
well, I think it doesn't. It's happening anyway. You can't really administrate it, you know, if, if somebody wants to, if a woman wants to shop in the men's department, or guy wants to shop in the women's department. I mean, I know a young man absolutely hetero, and he buys pants in the women's department because he likes a flowy fabric, fabric. He likes that flowy, wide leg. So I think you can't really stop it. But even if, even if manufacturers and retailers try not to be too agender, I think people are going to do what they want.
Bret Schnitker 12:15
Yeah clothing is a conversation, yeah, that we have with others on a daily basis.
Emily Lane 12:21
One of the things that I think you are just so skilled at is looking at the world around us. You see the people walking down the street, you see the murals being painted. You see, you know, the way someone's dressing their dog. Whatever the observation is, you're able to look at that and then immediately understand what is happening in our in our industry, and where trends are going to go. What are some interesting.
Bret Schnitker 12:48
Major revolutions with dogs? Sorry, maybe I jump-
Emily Lane 12:53
Of course, I'm thinking pet apparel. What are some things that you're seeing now that you're, you know, out as you're just running your daily errands out on the streets. What are you seeing from culture and from society that you think is going to find its way into our scene and over the next year?
Sharon Graubard 13:14
Yeah, I'm thinking, I mean, I do think there's more movement toward personal expression and less paying attention, in a way, to trends and doing your own thing and being yourself and and buying like a special piece, I think The Real Real and all of the second hand shopping. I mean, you know, I was at a bar in a bar, and I saw a young man wearing this fabulous sweater, and just had beautiful colors, and it was so fluffy. And I said, is that elder statesman? And he said, Yes, it is. He said he just bought it on The Real Real so it's like this luxury item that becomes accessible. And it's kind of that, that one great piece, you know, every piece tells a story. I think people are getting more into, or maybe this is wishful thinking, but getting more into the story that they're trying to tell and the stories of the clothing.
Emily Lane 14:24
So it's a real intention behind picking up something that's individual better, you know, not not as throwaway.
Sharon Graubard 14:33
Well, I like your word intention, because that's something I've thought about a lot, like, what makes it fashion? You know, you see someone walking down the street and a pair of jeans and a white t shirt and a khaki trench coat, but they look so good. What makes it fat? And another person might be wearing those pieces and not be looking so good, but intention is what it's all about when you. Choose it. And as we say, even if you don't think you're choosing it, you're choosing it. But if you put that even that little bit of effort, and it elevates the whole message
Bret Schnitker 15:14
With fashion as a conversation, and you're seeing globally, there's a conversation about sustainability, you're talking a little bit about The Real Real and circular economy. Do you feel like that that's taking hold in a more present way in the US, or is that still just a small conversation in general?
Sharon Graubard 15:32
I think it's a big conversation among us fashion people It doesn't even cross people's mind, and I'm always making that analogy with food, how now everyone's so conscious and of what they put in their bodies, maybe not everyone, but and you go to the just a normal grocery store, and there's an organic aisle, and it's just much more. It's impacted these conversations about food, which has been happening for 30 years. So maybe
Bret Schnitker 16:07
now it's more mainstream.
Sharon Graubard 16:09
Or at the airport, you see all this beautiful food, it used to be these disgusting, you know, packaged sandwiches.
Bret Schnitker 16:17
Especially since LaGuardia has been upgraded all that.
Sharon Graubard 16:19
Yeah, much better. So, but no, I don't think that.
Bret Schnitker 16:26
They don't think they think about what I'm putting in my body, but they're still not thinking what I'm putting on.
Emily Lane 16:33
You know that, yeah, those initiatives for transparency on food took decades. So in now? What conversation on transparency, ratings, on carbon neutrality and sustainability, and you know,
Sharon Graubard 16:47
and I think you know, it's not fair in a way, to put it on the consumer and to tell a consumer, Oh, you shouldn't be buying Shein or shine however Shein, or you shouldn't be buying fast fashion because they it's not their problem, right? It has to happen on the-
Bret Schnitker 17:07
I've always had that dialog. You know, for years, there have been institutions in America that have always said recycling is born on the consumer. Recycling and eco friendly, it's and statistics have shown there just hasn't been a massive shift in terms of eco friendliness because of those initiatives. It's more of a marketing game. The reality is is all of this stuff must happen at the source. If you want to change sustainability, if you want to change eco friendly, if you want to change some of these issues, it happens, has to happen at the production level. Totally consumer doesn't, especially in the US, the consumer does not get it.
Sharon Graubard 17:48
No and even if they did, what's one person, you know, sometimes, like, I want to boycott Amazon, but you know, that's where I get my dishwasher tabs. Like, I just can't. I don't know who carries them
Emily Lane 18:02
Hard to keep the convenience sometimes, yeah,
Bret Schnitker 18:04
if you want a boy on Amazon, they have those boycott Amazon signs on sale on Amazon. Get them tomorrow.
Sharon Graubard 18:11
I mean, you're, you're just one person. You're not going to make that much impact. So if you tell a girl who wants to have a new outfit every weekend, or every time she takes an Instagram picture of herself, it's not her problem, unfortunately, but I think more education of the consumer would help a lot too, because they don't know, yeah, yeah,
Emily Lane 18:36
that's true. So many people think these there's an instant solution to these problems, and their trust isn't.
Sharon Graubard 18:42
Or they're misdirected, like I remember reading that one organic t shirt is has much bigger footprint. An organic cotton t shirt is worse for the environment than a polyester shirt.
Bret Schnitker 18:58
From a carbon use standpoint, yes, and that's the big challenge that I'm seeing in Europe. You know, they're moving to carbon neutrality. That's where their focus is. And in many cases, eco friendly materials and echo, echo conscious decisions are contrary to carbon neutrality. And so you have these two camps that are going to be fighting. It is such a confusing landscape, and I know at least there's this attempt to go down that road, but Europe, I think, is a little bit ahead, even as messy as that whole conversation is. You know, they've got the digital passport that's going to be in place by 2025, 2026 they're addressing at least parts of that equation, but I anticipate it to get a little complicated, because you're right. They show in terms of carbon usage, a polyester shirt uses much less carbon. Cotton is a thirsty crop, so we impact the environment have a lot more with cotton versus polyester, from a carbon usage.
Sharon Graubard 19:53
And your washing it in hot water, you're using the dryer polyester shirt, you might rinse and. Sink and hang up. But didn't France just pass laws? Aren't they the first country to pass laws for clothing manufacturing?
Bret Schnitker 20:12
That's this whole step of digital passports is actually happening through the entire EU that I'm aware of. Yeah, and they originally, you know, they're slow to implement it. But it's similar to, you know, whenever you buy a appliance or or a car, you have, you have certain ratings, you know, miles per gallon or efficiency in terms of air conditioning. Part of this whole digital passport is the explanation of, here's how many carbon kind of units it takes to, you know, process this. There's a rating system that's going to be in place, so at least there's this raised awareness to, you know, the the overall carbon footprint, but I anticipate it to be, again, a pretty complex problem.
Emily Lane 20:52
We actually have a lot of information on this through a couple different resources. If people are wanting a deeper dive, we have a podcast episode where we talk to a resource that has developed a carbon rating system for the EU and we also have our latest issue of the magazine on sustainability that can be downloaded that We talk very specifically about this, this very issue.
Emily Lane 20:53
You know, since we're talking about consumer values, obviously sustainability, as we're talking about, is of peak concern. Are there other consumer values that you see that are on the rise today that's making a shift in our landscape?
Sharon Graubard 21:38
Well yes I think supporting smaller businesses, niche definitely. I know it's not clothing, but fragrance. Niche fragrances, I think, are really on the rise, instead of the big and I was really surprised last time I was in Sephora, how few niche brands they had. You know, it's all the big names. I think the consumer is really wanting to have something a little more personal with and
Bret Schnitker 22:10
when you talk about that, it's so wild, because you do talk about, hey, it's all about what you're wearing. It's a personalization of fashion. You know, it's not following the overall trend. You have all these very, very creative designers that are creating really unique individual items. And it's interesting. You know, our conversations of last few days and our continuous conversations with the designer community is they're surprisingly affordable, knowing that these designers have created one of a kind pieces, right, in the past, those were not very accessible. Those one of a kind designer pieces, at least the well known designers that we knew in Haute Couture and typical, there were 1000s of dollars, you know, with some of the regional designers that we're looking at today, they're cheaper than a pair of jeans at retail, and they're single item kind of realities. Why do you think limited Yeah, limited run. Why do you think that in an environment where we started a couple years ago talking about the rise of boutique brands, there's this amazing culture shift where lots of designers are creating clothing that is in that genre, that large scale, even specialty chains used to, in the past, have trunk shows and, yeah, and, you know, flag wave for these great, unique designers and really embraced uniqueness, have now become so homogenized and have really abandoned that entire market when there is this kind of shift or that.
Sharon Graubard 23:41
I mean, just this week in New York is it was a trade show called designers and agents, and I can't tell you how many great lines, not only apparel, but footwear and accessories and just great stuff. And it's like, where do we find this stuff?
Bret Schnitker 24:00
They had to have chil- Was it busy? Was it well there, attended by buyers, or not?
Sharon Graubard 24:06
Not well. We talked to a couple of people who were showing and they said small boutiques were coming in, but no majors, no majors. And that's why I think majors aren't doing well. Nothing is inspiring. I occasionally do. I don't want to name names, but I'll go to one of the big stores and do top to bottom, look at every rack, and I'll think, you know, even if I had all the money in the world and I was six feet tall and 120 pounds, which I'm not. I still don't think I would have fine things to buy. I'm just not inspired. Well,
Emily Lane 24:48
I would, I would agree with you, with the exception for what is happening in menswear right now. I gotta tell you, I think that is men's menswear is got a revolution happening. A lot more freedom.
Sharon Graubard 25:02
Interestingly, and I did go to men's day a couple of weeks ago. The men's designers, who showed showed a lot of the pieces on women, and a lot of them said, this is for everyone, so but men's, men's wears exciting.
Bret Schnitker 25:21
But that may explain it. When you've got this whole kind of blending or fluidity between men's and women's, it's allowing men's wear designers to become a little bit more bold, if you will. You know men, you know you give us a pair of jeans that fits great. We re buy it every time. We don't want to go most men, We'd only go shopping or you find a favorite, right? But because of there's this blending. It's giving maybe Fresh Life to menswear where that wasn't happening in the past.
Sharon Graubard 25:50
I'm just when you're saying that it's also the limitations of menswear are freeing. You know how when you have a school assignment and you have to work within these certain parameters, it kind of frees you up, because, what is Menswear? It's a pair of jeans or a pair of trousers, yeah, a t shirt or a woven shirt and a jacket, you know, a zip jacket or or bomber or pea jacket or or a blazer. So within that, designers are really playing, playing with and also the artisanal movement is really giving dimension to those pieces. Yeah, very interesting. It's in, you know, sometimes it's in the in the way the fabric is pieced together. Yeah, it's in the way that fabrics are treated. Definitely, silhouette. You know, Thom Browne really changed the conversation about silhouette with the shrunken silhouette, but now we have this wonderfully oversized silhouette, which moves menswear into anotherdirection
Bret Schnitker 26:58
And again, is cyclical. I remember the first time all that boxy stuff was in, yeah, right. It's back evolved. Everything comes back. It's just a little evolved, yeah.
Emily Lane 27:08
One of the trends that we spoke about recently was what we're seeing on the red carpet right now. Our industry made tremendous strides over the last few years of embracing size inclusivity, and what we're seeing now as a result of the ozempic fad that we are now, people who haven't even struggled with weight, celebrities that haven't struggled with weight, are now even thinner than ever, and we're finding that directly translated to our runways. Do you anticipate any kind of slide or reverse slide of progress happening as a result of this?
Sharon Graubard 27:52
I definitely think we've slid back a bit, definitely. And there is a website, I think, that keeps statistics on the models. There were also some really interesting regular size models that were starting to come onto the runway. Not plus, which we had, you know, not the curve models, but just kind of, you know, size eight, size six, even, they were starting to come up, and I haven't seen them as much, but
Bret Schnitker 28:26
so size inclusivity today is like size zero to size six. But right? Because of ozempic Everyone, -
Sharon Graubard 28:34
It is, well, it's funny because, you know, I just recently started shopping on Real Real, which I never really have. And they'll mark, you know, I've learned that don't pay attention to the size, because they'll mark some clothes XXL, I kid you not, X, X X L. And the bus measurement will be like 38 or something which is not XXL, no, 38 28 38 it. Not XXL, but it's, it's, you know what? So many brands have much bigger offering in terms of size inclusivity. So I think it's here to stay. It's a business. People want to make money. Everybody wants to be part of the fashion conversation, and we have to make clothes that fit people so extended sizes I think are here to stay.
Bret Schnitker 29:35
That's good, good to hear. For me, especially,
Sharon Graubard 29:39
whether it's on the runway or not.
Bret Schnitker 29:40
yes or not,
Emily Lane 29:42
Clothes forever have been made to flatter the body. You know you've got generation after generation, decade after decade. You know, different corsets and things like that have come in and out of fashion to flatter the body. There is a shift with a. With this concept of flattering today?
Sharon Graubard 30:02
Yes, well, the idea of flattering is kind of to who, and I think that's a cultural shift that, you know, it's so funny when I think New York Times had an article you know that men love Sun dresses like you know, every man that was the top answer, what do you like to see a woman in? Is a sun dress. And then I was reading all the letters, and it was like, Who gives a damn what a man thinks, you know, and I see it all the time on Instagram, where people will say, Oh, men hate, you know, baggy pants or something. And then you'll see a million comments saying who cares. So you know that the flattering thing, I think, used to be more based on the male gaze, and now it's also I want to wear it. I don't care. You see girls around town in the summer with, you know, rolls of flesh, and they're wearing a crop top and a mini skirt, just like their friends. And it's empowering. So you could say, Oh, you're too fat to wear that, but that person wants to wear it, right?
Emily Lane 31:14
Right? Yeah, I like that. Again. It's all about this individual, that individualism embracing being who you want to be if you want to wear that Superman outfit, because it makes you feel super. Yeah,Yeah go for it, right?
Sharon Graubard 31:28
What is your what is your personal Superman outfit? Right?
Emily Lane 31:32
So, what is your personal Superman outfit?
Sharon Graubard 31:34
Me, yeah, something ratty and black,
Emily Lane 31:42
comfy, got paint on it, painting studio,
Sharon Graubard 31:46
something that I've loved for years, and it's getting worn out. Probably, I like designer clothes. I mean, that's one reason that, you know, I think, I always think designer clothes hold a secret, and that's the superpower. So even though, I mean, I am wearing a Zara sweater right now, but my pants are Comme Des Garcons, I
Bret Schnitker 32:10
Nod out to Zara, you can send your check to us,
Sharon Graubard 32:17
I end up throwing those wet, you know, donating every time I clean out my closet, I just take anything that I bought from Zara or a place like that, and I get rid of it. It just doesn't, it doesn't have the same emotional resonance for me, even if, even if, no one can tell, you know, I always buy the invisible pieces. But I know, and that's my superpower,
Bret Schnitker 32:44
yeah, and you embrace the artist behind these collections too. It has to be, it is your business, so you're embracing
Sharon Graubard 32:51
It has to be a person who I like, whose work I like, yeah. And also, red lipstick is my superpower, yeah,
Bret Schnitker 32:57
good for you.
Emily Lane 32:58
I agree. What are some, some things that people should be looking for as coming trends in this next year? You know, we've, we've been hearing a lot about, you know, this kind of shift of Americana embracing Americana. Are there other, other things that are on the horizon that people should be aware of, well,
Sharon Graubard 33:22
American we did invent sportswear. So Americana and clothing is, uh, khaki pants. You know, I love that Gap ad many years ago that showed all the different people who wore khakis, and they were people who were, you know, not part of the, the the status quo. It was Jack Kerouac, wore khaki. Oh, it was fabulous.
Bret Schnitker 33:53
But according to Jack, they were multi colored most of the time. He saw lots of colors.
Sharon Graubard 33:59
there's this way. And that was, you know, that a trend I was working on the makers where, you know, the artists are wearing a pair of pants and and a black T shirt, or whatever it is, and a pair of ballet flats. It's American fashion. It's, it's what Bonnie Cashin and Claire McCardell did, it's still what we want to wear. And I wouldn't call it Americana as in rah rah Americana. I would call it Americana in terms of its democratic anyone can wear it and your character, you provide the style and the mood.
Emily Lane 34:44
I like it. I get such a tactile feeling when you're talking about this, like, I can picture myself, you know, at a canvas painting, or the cobbler making the shoe. Like you get this feeling of make real making.
Sharon Graubard 34:59
Yeah, it's the. Workwear, yes, the work the real work wear And when I say work wear, I mean work wear, not career wear, because we used to call career wear, kind of, you know the Ellen Tracy, Liz Claiborne, oh, right, you know, some of those places still exist. Ann Taylor, yes, that was career wear. Now everyone's calling it work wear, which is, I think, not the right term, because work where is,
Bret Schnitker 35:31
they want to get on the Carhartt train, right?
Sharon Graubard 35:33
Yes. And people, you know, if you say work wear there's a there's a confusion. It's like you if you say formal, a lot of people call formal a suit or something a little more tailored, but really formal to me is something you'd wear to a ball. Yeah, black tie. Black Tie. But all these terms are just, you know.
Emily Lane 35:57
Sounds like we need an overhaul in the industry in general, for our terms. So far, we've struggled with what fashion means.
Sharon Graubard 36:04
The worst one is Missy. Missy. I've been trying to think of a new word, but I call it classic. And I think most of my clients call what used to be Missy, Classic. What do we do for the classic customer? And then if you show something a little off beat, someone might say, well, that's not classic, but it it's very different. Missy is the worst word
Emily Lane 36:31
Yes, it sounds kind of condescending. Yeah, well, we've talked about a lot about what, what, what, you can pretty much do anything with regards to fashion now, which I think is pretty exciting. Are there any don't do this,
Sharon Graubard 36:46
Don't, I don't know. I mean, used to say, oh, you can't do matchy, matchy. But now you can do head to toe monochrome, and it looks very cool.
Emily Lane 36:57
And you can match your family from, you know, partner to partner to child to pet. Yes, you can early matching, matching,
Sharon Graubard 37:03
All match. And then he used to say, oh, you can't mix patterns. But of course, pattern mixing, put a plaid with a floral and a stripe looks great. So what can't you do? You know, there are certain things, and it's hard to put a finger on it, but just boring.
Emily Lane 37:24
Yes, don't do boring.
Sharon Graubard 37:26
Don't do boring. Yeah, but you know, one person's boring is another person's classic,
Emily Lane 37:33
which is another person's missy. That's great. Well, thank you. Do you Do you have any other insights about what to expect in this next year of fashion? Any advice for people who are looking for creative ways to style themselves?
Sharon Graubard 37:49
Well I think it's great to shop in your closet. You know you forget what you have. And I know everybody talks about it, but it's, it's, I mean, I know, even for myself, with my friends, we'll ask each other, where did that come from? And it's like, Oh, I haven't worn it in years. I found it in my closet. But this that which, which is not so great for our industry, because we're in such a moment of mystery. What would be the word. It's such a moment of confusion. We don't know what's going to happen next. And I think it's hard to predict, hard to predict, but, but I do think we're ready for a big change. And I know, Bret, you were talking about that knitting machine. This the circular knitting, yeah, and I have thought about that so much because that includes size inclusivity. I think knit, you know, customization, customization, new shapes. You know, we have been in the same moment for a long, long time. I mean, things evolve, but we we could be on the verge of a real revolution. We don't know what it is, but I think
Bret Schnitker 39:11
Technology is part of that for sure,
Sharon Graubard 39:14
absolutely, yeah,
Bret Schnitker 39:16
and I'm seeing that kind of when you're seeing some of this whole garment knitting happening everywhere, even in China. You know that the industry is going to shift, yes, and with that shift comes a lot of challenges that us in the industry have to deal with. There's entire countries that kind of survive on human labor, and as you move to robotic labor, how's that going to shift? Right? Yeah, how you know what impact is that going to have? And we like to talk about how difficult life is for some of the workers, but the reality is, in some of these countries, that's the only work they have, and if they didn't have it, they would starve. They don't have welfare. And. So, you know, there's a whole lot of responsibility and conversation we have. The one thing that I think could be interesting and I'm excited about, is that we all talk about near shoring or on shoring, and forever, I've said not possible in the US right for apparel, we abdicated in the 80s, we have small shops really dedicated to very compliance stuff. And, you know, maybe small runs that are okay. So not to demean the current resources, it's just, there's not, there's not a lot of resource in America. There's not a lot of sewers in America. We can do very, very complicated sewing affordably. You know, we have limitations. But the the bright spot, the the opportunity that I see is every day I'm waking up and I'm reading about some new technology in terms of manufacturing, I'm like, oh, plug that in. That could work. That could present a new opportunity, and it also presents new directions for designers.
Sharon Graubard 40:56
That's what I'm thinking, new shapes, new ways, and new fabrics maybe that are more forgiving. And I know there's a store in the Lower East Side and they they only have one size in the whole store. I mean, every everything's forgiving. You know, whether it's stretch or it's wrap or whatever, you know that I think there's a lot more, or maybe you want to wear the garment tight one day and loose another day. So revolution in the way clothes are made and in the way they fit, and
Emily Lane 41:31
having almost it sounds like convertibility to it, too.
Sharon Graubard 41:34
That's definitely exciting. Yes, yeah.
Emily Lane 41:37
Well, some things to be looking forward to. Bret. Do you have any questions, thoughts before we wrap this up today?
Bret Schnitker 41:42
I think, you know, I want to give another shout out to Sharon, because if you, if you jump onto SG Files, for years, I I have been astounded by how you distill fashion and forecasting. There's a lot of services out there, and I just feel like,
Emily Lane 42:00
which you've been a part of.
Bret Schnitker 42:04
there's a lot of them. When you kind of spend time on those sites, you're like, Man, Icould come up with any answer under the sun. I'm not really sure it's guidance. I'm not really sure it's forecast. It's just kind of a bunch of images that are all thrown on, and you kind of dissect it for yourself with SG Files and with what Sharon does is one. It's extremely artistic. It is it is curated in such a way that for creatives in our space, for people that that really make decisions on what to put into lines or collections, there is this distillation that is crystal clear, that is well, based in fact, and that it is beautifully curated. So you're like, Ah, I get it. You're known to do these beautiful Haku poems, though, the way that you put images together, I think you would all do yourself a service to figure out a way to spend more time and understand more what Sharon does on SG Files. So you know, we can't cover that as much in a podcast. But oh my god. We were at Washington University last night. She was able to share some of the forecasts, and it was fantastic. I think super well received.
Emily Lane 43:11
I that's, you know, it's absolutely right, Sharon, you do have this tremendous skill of looking at culture, looking at people, looking at what's happening, and connecting the dots of of his historic references, what's happening today, and putting it all through a very in a very focused way, helping people understand how that translates.
Bret Schnitker 43:33
Let's be inclusive, not only historic, but her storic.
Sharon Graubard 43:36
well, I always think trends should be a mirror, and any brand should be able to look at that trend. I mean, trend forecasting should be a mirror and see themselves. So I'm thinking, you know, it's kind of a magic but I'm making a trend that's specific enough so that it's very specific, so you understand what it is, but inclusive enough that anyone from Prada to Kmart can look at it and see themselves in that mirror, see them, their product and their customer reflected in that mirror.
Bret Schnitker 44:17
That's what I love about it. It's so clear.
Emily Lane 44:19
Thats a perfect description,
Bret Schnitker 44:21
clear as a mirror.
Emily Lane 44:24
How can people find you Sharon?
Sharon Graubard 44:26
I'm Sharon at the SGfiles.com I'm on LinkedIn. Sharon Graubard, Sharongrah on Instagram. Put my name in the search engine. I'm very easy to reach.
Emily Lane 44:40
we'll make sure to share all that information as well. So thank you once again for joining us. It was great to have this update in this latest season, and we look forward to keeping this conversation alive!
Sharon Graubard 44:53
Always a joy. And I love how we're the three beat nicks.
Emily Lane 45:03
Well, on that note, don't forget to subscribe to stay apprised of upcoming conversations on Clothing Coulture, thank you for joining us.
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